Motivate your team
Eiserman puts a tremendous amount of importance on the people
who make up his company — and for good reason. Under the Y&R
umbrella are many specialty companies, like Wunderman, a direct
advertising firm, and Landor Associates, which specializes in design
and brand building. It’s also the agency of record for clients like Land
Rover, Callaway Golf and Mattel Inc. Whatever the client’s marketing
challenge, one of the companies that constitute Y&R Brands will have
the resources and expertise to solve it.
In other words, Y&R is only as good as its people.
“We don’t produce the widgets,” he says. “Motivating people is literally the key to the success of the organization.”
Eiserman says motivation comes from an individual understanding the role they play in the company, and then understanding how
critical that role is to the overall success of the organization. Once
the employee has a clear idea of where his or her role fits in the big
picture, it motivates that employee and reinforces what the CEO has
said about the importance of every person’s role in the organization’s success.
Achieving complete clarity of purpose throughout the organization isn’t something that happens overnight. Eiserman says that
there are a few keys to getting everyone rowing in the same direction.
First, you need to establish expectations for everyone in the
organization — top to bottom. Make sure everyone knows their
responsibilities as an individual employee, and each department
should have its own plan, as well.
“That way, people aren’t left guessing what’s expected of them,” Eiserman says.
To make sure everyone is on the same page, plenty of open communication is needed between the boss and the employees.
Eiserman says that it’s the CEO’s responsibility to share his or her
vision for the company with the employees, and then to show them
how they fit into it.
“Talk about them as individuals and set their objectives for the
year — what their goals are,” he says. “Then, invest time in those
individuals to help give them every chance at success at what
they’re doing.”
Another way to keep employee motivation high is celebrating
and acknowledging the success and the contribution of those
individuals.
Every month, the branch’s 270 employees get together for breakfast. Besides making sure there are enough boxes of cereal and gallons of milk for everyone, Eiserman’s biggest responsibility at the
breakfast is to spread the good word — whether it is by detailing an
individual’s recent achievement, recognizing the employees who
worked to help the agency win a new account or just welcoming a
recently hired staff member.
Eiserman also created the “Unsung Hero” award to help celebrate
an employee whose contributions, while significant, may be overlooked. The constant stream of praise for the staff’s efforts simply
reinforces Eiserman’s mantra, while proving that management takes
each employee’s role very seriously.
“Just giving it lip service isn’t going to cut it,” he says. “Literally,
everything we do starts with our people.”